Ultra Yummy Breakfast Granola Bars

"Whole grain, seeds, nuts, and dry fruit...does it get better? Yes! They've got nut butter! This recipe is flexible. You can sub sweeteners (except don't use fake sweeteners); you can use whatever type of nuts or seeds you like. You can add candied ginger in place of dried fruit. Use raisins, currants, or dried chopped cherries - your choice. Makes 16 breakfast bars or 32 snack bars."

Directions

Stir rolled oats, almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, and coconut together onto a large baking sheet; spread the oat mixture out on a baking sheet.

Toast in the preheated oven until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring after 5 minutes.

Pour the oat mixture into a large bowl and mix in cinnamon.

Stir raisins, turbinado sugar, agave nectar, coconut butter, peanut butter, and sea salt together in a saucepan. Place saucepan over medium-low heat, bring the mixture to a boil, and boil for 1 minute. Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in vanilla extract.

Pour the hot mixture over the oat mixture and stir until the dry ingredients are moistened.

Press the mixture into the prepared baking dish until even and densely packed. Refrigerate for 1 hour to set up.

Turn the mixture out of the pan, cut into 16 bars, and wrap bars in waxed paper. If desired, cut bars in half to make 32 snack-size bars.

This turned out tasty but crumbly, and wouldn't hold together as bars. The mixture in the pan was very thick and sticky, too thick to boil. When it began to scorch on the bottom of the pan (I had it over low heat), I removed it from the stove. The thickness of it made it very difficult to distribute evenly through the toasted oat mixture. When that was finally accomplished, I pressed it into the pan and let it cool. It crumbled apart when I tried to cut it into bars, so now I have a very tasty granola. Not exactly what I had hoped for. I may try this again with coconut oil instead of coconut butter, to see if that improves things. I give it 3 stars for flavor.

Aloha,
Yeah, the wet ingredients were too thick! Scorches easy! I added more agave to moistenit, and next time will only use honey and agave to make this more moist and add no dry sugar. Used only almond butter and added about 1 and half tablespoons more. Setting up now.

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

**Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.

(-)Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.